Chapter 8

Ciel felt as though he had jinxed himself when he thought the irritation in his eye wouldn't get much worse, because 18 hours after it had started, the mild irritation had gone from a slight itchiness to a mild stinging sensation. What was worse was the fact that there was nothing he or anyone else could do to make it stop. The seal on his eye was now just a colorless outline and a quarter of it could no longer be seen. The blue color of his eye stood out more than the seal did!

The stress of the situation made Ciel want to call Sebastian back, to order him to tell him what was happening, and to make the butler solve the problem and stop it. There was a problem though; the contract wasn't functioning. At least, not properly. He tried ordering Sebastian back several times, but nothing would happen. He could not sense whether or not the demon heard him, which ultimately made him wonder if Sebastian was sick, dead, or dying.

When Claude left the mansion in the middle of the night and had left a message with Hannah saying he wouldn't be back for number of hours, Ciel knew it had something to do with Sebastian. Maybe he was going to try to reason with him, maybe he was going to make sure he was alright, or maybe he was off to run an errand, but he'd always send Sebastian to do.

Ciel would try to take his mind off of the situation by participating in leisure activities. Sometimes he and Alois would lock themselves in the drawing room, playing board games. Sometimes they'd compete and see who could build the biggest house of cards, or who could get the most bull's-eyes playing darts. Sometimes, Alois would get bored and thow a dart or two at Hannah; why the blonde bore a grudge against the maid, Ciel didn't know. And sometimes, they would intentionally throw the darts at one or more of the triplets. Between these activities, they would sip tea, take meals, and Ciel would stop to rub his eye, even though he had learned by now that rubbing his eye did nothing to help him.

"Ciel?" Alois asked him that afternoon, "What do you think is wrong with your eye?"

Ciel sighed, "I'm not exactly sure, but I think it means Sebastian's in trouble."

"Isn't he supposed to be just as capable as Claude? What makes you think he's in trouble?"

Ciel would never admit to this strange boy. Somehow from within, Ciel could sense that Sebastian was weak and growing weaker, and that the weaker the demon got the more his eye became irritated and the more to seal would fade. He was able to piece together by now that Alois and Claude were under the same sort of contract, but he didn't know much more than that.

"It's just that this isn't like Sebastian," he said, "No matter how ticked he can get at me, he usually comes crawling back when I tell him to. For him not to respond to me in almost the day is strange."

Alois hummed, "He could just be ignoring your orders."

"And why would he do a thing like that? What more does he have to do that's taking his attention away from serving me? It doesn't add up. There has to be something wrong with him."

Claude and Sebastian were two completely different demons, especially when speaking in terms of how they treated their superiors. Whereas Sebastian would throw himself at Satan's feet and grovel, Claude would stand tall, refusing to bow or to throw himself into the powerful demon's good graces. Sebastian was the type to be flexible and alter his plans, wants, and needs accordingly to whatever Satan might want from him as well. Claude was apathetic and prideful, a glutton, and full of greed. He wasn't willing to alter any plot he had already developed, and no amount of threats or punishment was able to persuade him, otherwise.

All of this was why Satan greatly favored Sebastian, and why he greatly disliked Claude. So when the spider demon came to him wanting information about the raven demon, all could sense his reluctance to help him.

"Terribly sorry, but I can't help you," Satan told him waving him off, "You still have a contract to fulfill. Get back to work!"

"Michaelis still has a contract to fulfill. I never see you kick his arse back to work."

"Michaelis's circumstances are different from yours, Spider."

"How so? Tell me."

"That is strictly classified information between me and Michaelis, only. Leave my sights, and I won't pluck out your eyes and use them as golf balls."

Claude began pestering the elder demon like one would expect a child to do to an adult.

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, now!"

"Guards!"

Claude let out and annoyed huff, "Look, I'm not asking for much. All I want are the details of the damn enchantment that was placed on Michaelis and the reversal spell with it."

"What part of 'strictly classified information' do you not understand?"

"If Michaelis is life is on is depending on it . . ."

Satan grabbed Claude by his lower jaw and yanked him forward roughly.

"All I can and will tell you is that Michaelis knew perfectly well what he was doing when he activated the enchantment. There will be no way for you to stop it. I think it would be better – for you, for me, for Michaelis, and for everyone else – if you just went back to your master and forgot about it."

Claude tore himself from the powerful demon's grip.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. Michaelis's master is in distress at the moment. Because the seal engraved in his eye is fading, it's causing him extreme irritation. If we do nothing, the deterioration of the seal will eventually lead to extreme pain before it vanishes completely."

"Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do. The only way to reverse the enchantment is through the reversal, and that is information that I cannot and will not give to you. Sorry, but you're just going to have to figure that out by yourselves."

Claude crossed his arms, "You speak as if there is more than one of me."

Satan smirked, "Don't play dumb. I know you had that demoness track down Michaelis to see what was wrong. That's why you have as much information as you do." The elder demon rubbed his chin as he pondered a thought, "You want to know something?"

"What?"

"When you die, I'd like to have your skull to use as a mug , and your jaw will make an excellent ashtray."

Claude made a noise of annoyance before walking away.

"If you care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you, Faustus," Satan called to him, "I'll bet you won't find the reversal in time to stop the enchantment, if at all. What do you say? If you win, you get to name your price. If I win, I get that pretty head of yours."

Claude turned to him; his expressions as blank as ever.

"Don't you know anything? I don't make bets I know I won't win."